Basketball: UCLA game string

FINAL: Bruins win 81-66. Cal lost for the third time in four games and missed a chance to move into a tie for first place in the Pac-10. The Bears are 16-5, 5-3. Theo Robertson scored 19 points for the Bears — all in the second half.

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11:57 2nd H: UCLA’s lead is now 51-30. The Bruins are in the midst of a 13-0 run that’s part of a larger 20-2 surge since Cal got within 31-28. I’ll be checking out for a while, unless something dramatic happens, in order to get going on my print edition story. Will have more later.

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15:24 2nd H: It’s 43-30 UCLA. The Bears cut into the halftime hole immediately, pulling within 31-28 on a 3-pointer by Robertson and a rebound basket by Wilkes. But UCLA is in the midst of a 12-2 run, sparked by a four-point play. Alfred Aboya made the first of two free throws, missed the second, but UCLA got the long rebound and Josh Shipp hit a long 3-pointer. Aboya then made an old-fashioned 3-point play before Nikola Dragovic drilled a long 3-pointer as the shot clock ticked down. A drive to the basket by freshman Jrue Holiday pushed the lead to 43-30. Jamaal Wilkes — Jordan’s dad and a former UCLA All-America — just was introduced to a big hand by the Pauley Pavilion crowd.

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HALFTIME: Well, it could have been worse. Much worse. Cal trails 31-23 despite committing 16 turnovers. The Bears’ season high for an entire game is 20. Randle hit a 3-pointer with 45 seconds left to get the Bears within eight points after UCLA had moved out to an 11-point advantage, its biggest of the game. Collison, who has 12 points, seems to be able to go wherever he wants. Randle has eight points to lead Cal, but also has five turnovers. He’s got lots of company. Christopher and Robertson combined for five more turnovers. The Bruins have nine turnovers of their own and are shooting 46 percent. Cal is shooting 38 percent frm the field and just 4-for-9 from the FT line.

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3:22 1st H: More turnovers . . . lots more, and this game is again getting away from Cal. Three straight giveaways — that’s 14 so far — led to UCLA transition baskets and it’s 29-19 UCLA. Ten of the 14 turnovers have been committed by the Bears’ most experienced players — Randle, Christopher and Robertson.

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THESE SCORES JUST IN: Arizona (3-5) knocked off first-place Washington (6-2) 106-97 in Tucson, and Washington State (4-4) beat Arizona State (5-3) 65-55 in Tempe.

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6:25 1st H: Amazingly, Cal trails just 21-19. This, despite 10 turnovers! The Bears were down 21-13 after a breakaway layup by Collison off Cal’s sixth turnovers in a span of eight possessions. Then Jerome Randle and D.J. Seeley hit 3-pointers off assists from Patrick Christopher and the margin was down to two points.

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10:31 1st H: UCLA has stretched its lead to 17-9 after an alley-oop dunk by freshman Drew Gordon of San Jose. The Bears are having all kinds of problems running their offense — shooting 3-for-9 with six turnovers.

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14:50 1st H: UCLA leads 8-6. Jordan Wilkes has all six points for the Bears, who are 2-for-5 and have four turnovers in 10 possessions. Jerome Randle is struggling so far to operate against the tight defensive pressure of Darren Collison. He is 0-for-2 with two turnovers.

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LINEUPS: No surprises here. Cal will use the same lineup its used for all 21 games this season — Jerome Randle, Patrick Christopher, Theo Robertson, Jamal Boykin and Jordan Wilkes. UCLA will go with Darren Collison, Jrue Holiday, Josh Shipp, Nikola Dragovic and Alfred Aboya.

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MONTY’S RECORD: Thanks to Ted Robinson, TV man extraordinaire, for this very cool note. Mike Montgomery arrives at Pauley Pavilion tonight having won his final seven games here as coach at Stanford, from 1998 through 2004. No other Pac-10 coach, including Lute Olson, ever beat the Bruins seven straight times at Pauley.